42.8 F
Spokane
Monday, March 17, 2025
spot_img
HomeCommentaryThe answer to this question depends entirely upon the outcome you want

The answer to this question depends entirely upon the outcome you want

Date:

Related stories

What food did the real St Patrick eat? Less corned beef and cabbage, more oats and stinky cheese

Every St Patrick’s day, thousands of Americans eat corned beef and cabbage as a way of connecting to Ireland. But this association sits uncomfortably with many Irish people.

Ramadan, Lent and the Bahá’í fast align this year revealing a rare lesson in unity

March 2025 brings a rare overlap of Ramadan, Lent and the Bahá'í fast, offering a chance to explore shared spiritual practices and foster unity.

Jesus faced his wilderness to lead us through ours

Jesus faced the wilderness not only to strengthen his faith and endure temptation, but also to help us do the same with his unwavering presence.

What’s the process for choosing a new pope?

Learn how the Roman Catholic Church chooses a new pope after one dies or resigns, how a conclave of about 120 cardinals reach a vote.

Save America: Find peace away from billionaire-controlled social media

Save America by disconnecting from tech, reclaiming peace and breaking free from the control of billionaires and social media.

Our Sponsors

spot_img

We are considering this week which is more effective, teaching safe sex or teaching abstinence. The answer to this question depends entirely upon the outcome you want. 

If you want more pregnancies that result from casual sex, if you want more abortions, if you want more children born out of wedlock, if you want more unwanted children, then by all means teach abstinence, which we have proven beyond doubt is a very effective way of achieving all these results. If however the desired goal is fewer abortions, fewer pregnancies resulting from casual sex, fewer children born out of wedlock, fewer unwanted children, then it is absolutely crucial to teach safe sex, and to make contraception universally available and really inexpensive. Because I am a strong proponent of the latter set of goals — most of us are, aren’t we? — I believe strongly in teaching safe sex.

None of this suggests we should encourage teenagers to be sexually active. On the whole teens do better, have more close friends and develop a wider range of interests if they aren’t sexually active, and this sort of information should be readily available and said out loud in sex education classes. But it is time to stop kidding ourselves about the results of abstinence only education.

Bill Ellis
Bill Ellis
Rev. Bill Ellis is dean of St. John’s Cathedral. He has a bachelor’s degree in history, a Master of Divinity and holds an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
spot_img
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x